COVID-19 Technology Plan Coming

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Hon. Daryl Vaz is in the final stages of completing a COVID-19 Technology Plan. This was announced at a handing over ceremony of tablets at the Port Antonio Primary School in Portland on October 22, 2020. Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Vaz said, “without connectivity, our students are at a disadvantage.  My job is to get broadband throughout the entire Jamaica in the shortest possible time.  In the short term, we are putting together a COVID-19 Response Technology Plan.  Additionally, I am in the final stages of a 100 day plan to see which schools and communities do not have connectivity or very little, so that we can work with our telecoms providers, agencies of government and international partners to improve the situation.” The Minister also added that the provision of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education is a major priority of the Government. “ICTs are integral to the education of our students and we are committed to ensuring that our students are given every opportunity to excel.  Through the Universal Service Fund, we have spent 805 million dollars for the Tablets for Teachers Programme and 700 million dollars for the Tablets in Schools Programme,” he said. Minister of Education, Youth and Informaton, Hon. Fayval Williams said the “forty thousand tablets being distributed across the island will go to PATH students in grades four, five and six.  We have targeted these students because they are among those that have the greatest need.  We have targeted grades four, five and six, in primary schools, because those are the exam grades.” Distribution of tablets is set to be completed by November 4, 2020.